Fields of Technical Expertise include:
| Optical & Magnetic Disk Drives | Control Systems | Motor Drives |
| Computer Peripherals | Digital Servo Systems | Sensors and Actuators |
| Motion Control Systems | Adaptive Control Systems | Electromechanical Products |
| Servo Control Chips | Active Damping Systems | Mechanical Dynamics |
| Analog Electronics | Digital Signal Processing | Dynamic Systems Simulation |
Dr. Sidman is an independent engineering consultant with over 30 years of practical industrial design experience in the design, optimization, simulation and control of electromechanical and mechatronic systems, with roles spanning product design, advanced development and applied research. He is the named inventor on 18 U.S. patents, author of many technical papers and received a Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1986. As Digital Equipment Corporation's top servo systems guru, Dr. Sidman was responsible for developing novel servomechanical technology for disk drives and headed the Storage Division's Servo-Mechanical Advanced Development Group. Dr. Sidman is a Senior Member of the IEEE and a Member of the ASME and is Past Chairman of the ASME Pikes Peak Section. He founded his engineering consulting business in 1989 and is listed in Marquis Who'sWho in Science and Engineering.
Education and Academic Awards
U.S. Patents
Selected Publications
Selected Courses and Seminars
Professional Activities and Society Memberships
Expert witness and technical consultant to Cantor Colburn of Bloomfield, Connecticut in 2005-6 on behalf of Faro Technologies in the patent infringement case, CimCore Corporation, et. al. v. Faro Technologies, in the U.S. District Court of Southern California, involving 3D coordinate metrology equipment. Authored expert reports and provided expert testimony at trial and in deposition on non-infringement and invalidity. Case subsequently settled with a favorable settlement for the client.
Expert witness and technical consultant to Holme, Roberts & Owen of Denver and Brooks Kushman of Southfield, Michigan from 2003-6 on behalf of StorageTek (Sun Microsystems) in patent infringement litigation in the U.S. District Court of Colorado, Storage Technology v. Quantum, involving tape drive optical servo technology. Authored expert reports and provided testimony in deposition on infringement and validity. Directed production of animations and videography for trial, addressing infringement. Case settled out of court during trial with a $25M settlement for the client and a patent cross licensing agreement.
Expert witness and technical consultant to Fenwick & West of Mountain View from 2003-4 on behalf of Via Technologies, Inc. of Taiwan in litigation relating to trade secrets in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California (Western Division), MediaTek v. Via Technologies and AOpen. Disputed technologies relate to optical disc drive position sensing, servo control and data buffering. Wrote four expert reports addressing trade secret matters, patent invalidity and non-infringement. Provided testimony in deposition. Case settled out of court with a satisfactory settlement for the client.
Expert witness and technical consultant to Oliff & Berridge of Alexandria from 2003-4 on behalf of Nikon Corporation of Japan in patent infringement litigation in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco Division), ASML Netherlands B.V. and ASM Lithography v. Nikon Corporation and Nikon Precision. Disputed technologies relate to semiconductor processing microlithography equipment. Provided opinions in expert reports relating to claim construction of two ASML reaction frame patents. Cases settled out of court with a favorable settlement for the client.
Expert witness and technical consultant to Welsh & Katz of Chicago from 1998-2001 on behalf of Papst Licensing, GmbH. of Germany in multi-district patent infringement litigation proceedings in the U.S. District Court, Eastern Division of Louisiana, involving Maxtor Corporation, Quantum Corporation, IBM, Western Digital and Matsushita-Kotobuki Electronics Industries, Ltd. of Japan. Disputed technologies include hard disk drive spindle motor and mechanical design. Performed priority analysis and developed claim charts on the more than twenty patents at issue. The parties have settled out of court with favorable settlements for the client.
Expert witness and technical consultant to Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly of Los Angeles in 2000 on behalf of Harmonic Design, Inc. in patent infringement and trade secret case, Harmonic Design v. Hunter Douglas. Investigated Hunter Douglas' microprocessor controlled motorized window covering products for infringement of claims relating to electronic circuitry, sensors, IR signal demodulation and motor control logic in a number of Harmonic Design's patents. Wrote an expert report that provided infringement analysis, as well as interpretation of remaining disputed claim terms post Markman. Case settled out of court with a satisfactory settlement and business arrangement for the client.Expert witness and technical consultant to Holme, Roberts & Owen of Denver in 1999-2000 on behalf of Exabyte Corporation in patent infringement case, Ecrix v. Exabyte. Investigated Ecrix's tape drive microcode, electronics and mechanics for infringement of a number of Exabyte patents relating to servo and timing control, buffer management, tape format and cartridge loading. Provided recommendations to attorneys regarding infringement and potential technical areas of discovery. Provided technical direction and feedback during depositions of Ecrix executives. Provided a computer animation video of the operation of the Ecrix tape loading mechanism. Case settled out of court in a mutually beneficial business arrangement for the parties.
Expert witness and technical consultant to Wood, Herron and Evans of Cincinnati in 1999 in patent infringement case, Ranpak Corp. v. Storopack, Inc., relating to machine and AC motor control. Provided expert witness report and testimony under deposition relating to both non-infringement and invalidity of contested claims in Ranpak's U.S. patent. Testified in a jury trial in U.S. District Court, Western Division of Southern Ohio, as Storopack's expert witness. The jury found in favor of Storopack on all counts to which Dr. Sidman testified, resulting in an overall favorable decision.
Expert witness and technical consultant to Kenyon and Kenyon of N.Y.C. and Washington D.C. in 1995 on behalf of Conner Peripherals in patent infringement case, IBM v. Conner Peripherals. Provided expert witness testimony under deposition. Researched and analyzed disk drive servo system and related patents. Investigated usage and meaning of relevant technical language. Directed experiments and conducted extensive technical and patent search of prior art. Produced non-infringement expert reports and exhibits. Presented and defended opinions and conclusions in deposition, contributing to client's satisfactory settlement of the case.
Expert witness and technical consultant to Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell of Wilmington, Delaware in 1997 on behalf of Data General in patent infringement case, Data General v. IBM. Researched prior art of electronic enclosures for data processing systems, and wrote an expert patent invalidity report detailing my opinions and conclusions about the obviousness of a patent claim being asserted by IBM against Data General's Clariion Division RAID products in a counterclaim action. IBM subsequently withdrew its objections on this patent.
Patent Licensing
Retained by Rodime PLC of Scotland in 1996-97 to review disk drive digital servo system patents and patent applications for marketing / licensing potential and to recommend which should be pursued.
Retained by Dickstein, Shapiro, Morin & Oshinsky of Washington, D.C. in 1997 as their expert in disk drive patent licensing negotiations on behalf of Hitachi, Ltd. of Japan. Presented opinions and responded to technical assertions of opposing side during negotiations contributing to a satisfactory settlement for client.
Named inventor on 18 U.S. patents. Worked extensively with patent attorneys to write patent specifications, help draft claims and respond to office actions.
Completed Prof. Kayton's treatise, Patent Practice.
Retained in 1999 by plaintiff's civil rights attorney, Faye Cohen, Esq. of Philadelphia, as an expert witness relating to the academic research of an engineering Ph.D. candidate in Robert Morein v. Drexel University et al. Performed technical review of Mr. Morein's academic research in state estimation to determine if it constituted viable academic work and to ascertain its potential practical value. Presented opinions in an expert report, defended same under deposition and testified at trial via videoconference in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. Judge found in favor of plaintiff on all counts.
Retained by plaintiff's attorney in 1989 to investigate and analyze functionality and reliability of municipal traffic control system in case involving a juvenile pedestrian fatality. Made recommendations, directly resulting in reprogramming of traffic control systems throughout Colorado Springs, Colorado.
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